The Malay Archipelago Volume 1 by by Alfred Russell Wallace

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The Celebes Roller (Coracias temmincki) is an interesting exampleof one species of a genus being cut off from the rest. There arespecies of Coracias in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but none in theMalay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, or Borneo. The present speciesseems therefore quite out of place; and what is still morecurious is the fact that it is not at all like any of theAsiatic species, but seems more to resemble those of Africa.

In the next family, the Bee-eaters, is another equally isolatedbird, Meropogon forsteni, which combines the characters ofAfrican and Indian Bee-eaters, and whose only near ally,Meropogon breweri, was discovered by M. Du Chaillu in WestAfrica!

The two Celebes Hornbills have no close allies in those whichabound in the surrounding countries. The only Thrush, Geocichlaerythronota, is most nearly allied to a species peculiar toTimor. Two of the Flycatchers are closely allied to Indianspecies, which are not found in the Malay islands. Two generasomewhat allied to the Magpies (Streptocitta and Charitornis),but whose affinities are so doubtful that Professor Schlegelplaces them among the Starlings, are entirely confined toCelebes. They are beautiful long-tailed birds, with black andwhite plumage, and with the feathers of the head somewhat rigidand scale-like.

Doubtfully allied to the Starlings are two other very isolatedand beautiful birds. One, Enodes erythrophrys, has ashy andyellow plumage, but is ornamented with broad stripes of orange-red above the eyes. The other, Basilornis celebensis, is a blue-black bird with a white patch on each side of the breast, and thehead ornamented with a beautiful compressed scaly crest offeathers, resembling in form that of the well-known Cock-of-the-rock of South America. The only ally to this bird is found inCeram, and has the feathers of the crest elongated upwards intoquite a different form.

A still more curious bird is the Scissirostrum pagei, whichalthough it is at present classed in the Starling family, differsfrom all other species in the form of the bill and nostrils, andseems most nearly allied in its general structure to the Ox-peckers (Buphaga) of tropical Africa, next to which thecelebrated ornithologist Prince Bonaparte finally placed it. Itis almost entirely of a slatey colour, with yellow bill and feet,but the feathers of the rump and upper tail-coverts eachterminate in a rigid, glossy pencil or tuft of a vivid crimson.These pretty little birds take the place of the metallic-greenstarlings of the genus Calornis, which are found in most otherislands of the Archipelago, but which are absent from Celebes.They go in flocks, feeding upon grain and fruits, oftenfrequenting dead trees, in holes of which they build their nests;and they cling to the trunks as easily as woodpeckers orcreepers.

Out of eighteen Pigeons found in Celebes, eleven are peculiar toit. Two of them, Ptilonopus gularis and Turacaena menadensis,have their nearest allies in Timor. Two others, Carpophagaforsteni and Phlaegenas tristigmata, most resemble Philippineisland species; and Carpophaga radiata belongs to a New Guineagroup. Lastly, in the Gallinaceous tribe, the curious helmetedMaleo (Megacephalon rubripes) is quite isolated, having itsnearest (but still distant) allies in the Brush-turkeys ofAustralia and New Guinea.

Judging, therefore, by the opinions of the eminent naturalistswho have described and classified its birds, we find that many ofthe species have no near allies whatsoever in the countries whichsurround Celebes, but are either quite isolated, or indicaterelations with such distant regions as New Guinea, Australia,India, or Africa. Other cases of similar remote affinitiesbetween the productions of distant countries no doubt exist, butin no spot upon the globe that I am yet acquainted with, do somany of them occur together, or do they form so decided a featurein the natural history of the country.

The Mammalia of Celebes are very few in number, consisting offourteen terrestrial species and seven bats. Of the former noless than eleven are peculiar, including two which there isreason to believe may have been recently carried into otherislands by man. Three species which have a tolerably wide rangein the Archipelago, are: (1) The curious Lemur, Tarsius spectrum,which is found in all the islands as far westward as Malacca; (2)the common Malay Civet, Viverra tangalunga, which has a stillwider range; and (3) a Deer, which seems to be the same as theRusa hippelaphus of Java, and was probably introduced by man atan early period.

The more characteristic species are as follow:

Cynopithecus nigrescens, a curious baboon-like monkey if not atrue baboon, which abounds all over Celebes, and is found nowhereelse but in the one small island of Batchian, into which it hasprobably been introduced accidentally. An allied species is foundin the Philippines, but in no other island of the Archipelago isthere anything resembling them. These creatures are about thesize of a spaniel, of a jet-black colour, and have the projectingdog-like muzzle and overhanging brows of the baboons. They havelarge red callosities and a short fleshy tail, scarcely an inchlong and hardly visible. They go in large bands, living chieflyin the trees, but often descending on the ground and robbinggardens and orchards.

Anoa depressicornis, the Sapi-utan, or wild cow of the Malays, isan animal which has been the cause of much controversy, as towhether it should be classed as ox, buffalo, or antelope. It issmaller than any other wild cattle, and in many respects seems toapproach some of the ox-like antelopes of Africa. It is foundonly in the mountains, and is said never to inhabit places wherethere are deer. It is somewhat smaller than a small Highland cow,and has long straight horns, which are ringed at the base andslope backwards over the neck.

The wild pig seems to be of a species peculiar to the island; buta much more curious animal of this family is the Babirusa or Pig-deer; so named by the Malays from its long and slender legs, andcurved tusks resembling horns. This extraordinary creatureresembles a pig in general appearance, but it does not dig withits snout, as it feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks of the lowerjaw are very long and sharp, but the upper ones instead ofgrowing downwards in the usual way are completely reversed,growing upwards out of bony sockets through the skin on each sideof the snout, curving backwards to near the eyes, and in oldanimals often reaching eight or ten inches in length. It isdifficult to understand what can be the use of theseextraordinary horn-like teeth. Some of the old writers supposedthat they served as hooks, by which the creature could rest itshead on a branch. But the way in which they usually diverge justover and in front of the eye has suggested the more probableidea, that they serve to guard these organs from thorns andspines, while hunting for fallen fruits among the tangledthickets of rattans and other spiny plants. Even this, however,is not satisfactory, for the female, who must seek her food inthe same way, does not possess them. I should be inclined tobelieve rather, that these tusks were once useful, and were thenworn down as fast as they grew; but that changed conditions oflife have rendered them unnecessary, and they now develop into amonstrous form, just as the incisors of the Beaver or Rabbit willgo on growing, if the opposite teeth do not wear them away. Inold animals they reach an enormous size, and are generally brokenoff as if by fighting.

Here again we have a resemblance to the Wart-hogs of Africa,whose upper canines grow outwards and curve up so as to form atransition from the usual mode of growth to that of the Babirusa.In other respects there seems no affinity between these animals,and the Babirusa stands completely isolated, having noresemblance to the pigs of any other part of the world. It isfound all over Celebes and in the Sula islands, and also inBourn, the only spot beyond the Celebes group to which itextends; and which island also shows some affinity to the Sulaislands in its birds, indicating perhaps, a closer connectionbetween them at some former period than now exists.

The other terrestrial mammals of Celebes are five species ofsquirrels, which are all distinct from those of Java and Borneo,and mark the furthest eastward range of the genus in the tropics;and two of Eastern opossums (Cuscus), which are different fromthose of the Moluccas, and mark the furthest westward extensionof this genus and of the Marsupial order. Thus we see that theMammalia of Celebes are no less individual and remarkable thanthe birds, since three of the largest and most interestingspecies have no near allies in surrounding countries, but seemvaguely to indicate a relation to the African continent.

Many groups of insects appear to be especially subject to localinfluences, their forms and colours changing with each change ofconditions, or even with a change of locality where theconditions seem almost identical. We should therefore anticipatethat the individuality manifested in the higher animals would bestill more prominent in these creatures with less stableorganisms. On the other hand, however, we have to consider thatthe dispersion and migration of insects is much more easilyeffected than that of mammals or even of birds. They are muchmore likely to be carried away by violent winds; their eggs maybe carried on leaves either by storms of wind or by floatingtrees, and their larvae and pupae, often buried in trunks oftrees or enclosed in waterproof cocoons, may be floated for daysor weeks uninjured over the ocean. These facilities ofdistribution tend to assimilate the productions of adjacent landsin two ways: first, by direct mutual interchange of species; andsecondly, by repeated immigrations of fresh individuals of aspecies common to other islands, which by intercrossing, tend toobliterate the changes of form and colour, which differences ofconditions might otherwise produce. Bearing these facts in mind,we shall find that the individuality of the insects of Celebes iseven greater than we have any reason to expect.

For the purpose of insuring accuracy in comparisons with otherislands, I shall confine myself to those groups which are bestknown, or which I have myself carefully studied. Beginning withthe Papilionidae or Swallow-tailed butterflies, Celebes possesses24 species, of which the large number of 18 are not found in anyother island. If we compare this with Borneo, which out of 29species has only two not found elsewhere, the difference is asstriking as anything can be. In the family of the Pieridae, orwhite butterflies, the difference is not quite so great, owingperhaps to the more wandering habits of the group; but it isstill very remarkable. Out of 30 species inhabiting Celebes, 19are peculiar, while Java (from which more species are known thanfrom Sumatra or Borneo), out of 37 species, has only 13 peculiar.The Danaidae are large, but weak-flying butterflies, whichfrequent forests and gardens, and are plainly but often veryrichly coloured. Of these my own collection contains 16 speciesfrom Celebes and 15 from Borneo; but whereas no less than 14 areconfined to the former island, only two are peculiar to thelatter. The Nymphalidae are a very extensive group, of generallystrong-winged and very bright-coloured butterflies, very abundantin the tropics, and represented in our own country by ourFritillaries, our Vanessas, and our Purple-emperor. Some monthsago I drew up a list of the Eastern species of this group,including all the new ones discovered by myself, and arrived atthe following comparative results:--

Species of Species peculiar to Percentage Nymphalidae. each island. of peculiar Species.

The Coleoptera are so extensive that few of the groups have yetbeen carefully worked out. I will therefore refer to one only,which I have myself recently studied--the Cetoniadae or Rose-chafers--a group of beetles which, owing to their extremebeauty, have been much sought after. From Java 37 species ofthese insects are known, and from Celebes only 30; yet only 13,or 35 percent, are peculiar to the former island, and 19, or 63percent, to the latter.

The result of these comparisons is, that although Celebes is asingle, large island with only a few smaller ones closely groupedaround it, we must really consider it as forming one of the greatdivisions of the Archipelago, equal in rank and importance to thewhole of the Moluccan or Philippine groups, to the Papuanislands, or to the Indo-Malay islands (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, andthe Malay peninsula). Taking those families of insects and birdswhich are best known, the following table shows the comparison ofCelebes with the other groups of islands:--

These large and well-known families well represent the generalcharacter of the zoology of Celebes; and they show that thisisland is really one of the most isolated portions of theArchipelago, although situated in its very centre.

But the insects of Celebes present us with other phenomena morecurious and more difficult to explain than their strikingindividuality. The butterflies of that island are in many casescharacterised by a peculiarity of outline, which distinguishesthem at a glance from those of any other part of the world. It ismost strongly manifested in the Papilios and the Pieridae, andconsists in the forewings being either strongly curved orabruptly bent near the base, or in the extremity being elongatedand often somewhat hooked. Out of the 14 species of Papilio inCelebes, 13 exhibit this peculiarity in a greater or less degree,when compared with the most nearly allied species of thesurrounding islands. Ten species of Pieridae have the samecharacter, and in four or five of the Nymphalidae it is also verydistinctly marked. In almost every case, the species found inCelebes are much larger than thane of the islands westward, andat least equal to those of the Moluccas, or even larger. Thedifference of form is, however, the most remarkable feature, as itis altogether a new thing for a whole set of species in onecountry to differ in exactly the same way from the correspondingsets in all the surrounding countries; and it is so well marked,that without looking at the details of colouring, most CelebesPapilios and many Pieridae, can be at once distinguished fromthose of other islands by their form alone.

The outside figure of each pair here given, shows the exact sizeand form of the fore-wing in a butterfly of Celebes, while theinner one represents the most closely allied species from one ofthe adjacent islands. Figure 1 shows the strongly curved marginof the Celebes species, Papilio gigon, compared with the muchstraighter margin of Papilio demolion from Singapore and Java.Figure 2 shows the abrupt bend over the base of the wing inPapilio miletus of Celebes, compared with the slight curvature inthe common Papilio sarpedon, which has almost exactly the sameform from India to New Guinea and Australia. Figure 3 shows theelongated wing of Tachyris zarinda, a native of Celebes, comparedwith the much shorter wing of Tachyris nero, a very closelyallied species found in all the western islands. The differenceof form is in each case sufficiently obvious, but when theinsects themselves are compared, it is much more striking than inthese partial outlines.

From the analogy of birds, we should suppose that the pointedwing gave increased rapidity of flight, since it is a characterof terns, swallows, falcons, and of the swift-flying pigeons. Ashort and rounded wing, on the other hand, always accompanies amore feeble or more laborious flight, and one much less undercommand. We might suppose, therefore, that the butterflies whichpossess this peculiar form were better able to escape pursuit.But there seems no unusual abundance of insectivorous birds torender this necessary; and as we cannot believe that such acurious peculiarity is without meaning, it seems probable that itis the result of a former condition of things, when the islandpossessed a much richer fauna, the relics of which we see in theisolated birds and Mammalia now inhabiting it; and when theabundance of insectivorous creatures rendered some unusual meansof escape a necessity for the large-winged and showy butterflies.It is some confirmation of this view, that neither the very smallnor the very obscurely coloured groups of butterflies haveelongated wings, nor is any modification perceptible in thosestrong-winged groups which already possess great strength andrapidity of flight. These were already sufficiently protectedfrom their enemies, and did not require increased power ofescaping from them. It is not at all clear what effect thepeculiar curvature of the wings has in modifying flight.

Another curious feature in the zoology of Celebes is also worthyof attention. I allude to the absence of several groups which arefound on both sides of it, in the Indo-Malay islands as well asin the Moluccas; and which thus seem to be unable, from someunknown cause, to obtain a footing in the intervening island. InBirds we have the two families of Podargidae and Laniadae, whichrange over the whole Archipelago and into Australia, and whichyet have no representative in Celebes. The genera Ceyx amongKingfishers, Criniger among Thrushes, Rhipidura amongFlycatchers, Calornis among Starlings, and Erythrura amongFinches, are all found in the Moluccas as well as in Borneo andJava--but not a single species belonging to any one of them isfound in Celebes. Among insects, the large genus of Rose-chafers,Lomaptera, is found in every country and island between India andNew Guinea, except Celebes. This unexpected absence of manygroups, from one limited district in the very centre of theirarea of distribution, is a phenomenon not altogether unique, but,I believe, nowhere so well marked as in this case; and itcertainly adds considerably to the strange character of thisremarkable island.

The anomalies and eccentricities in the natural history ofCelebes which I have endeavoured to sketch in this chapter, allpoint to an origin in a remote antiquity. The history of extinctanimals teaches us that their distribution in time and in spaceare strikingly similar. The rule is, that just as the productionsof adjacent areas usually resemble each other closely, so do theproductions of successive periods in the same area; and as theproductions of remote areas generally differ widely, so do theproductions of the same area at remote epochs. We are thereforeled irresistibly to the conclusion, that change of species, stillmore of generic and of family form, is a matter of time. But timemay have led to a change of species in one country, while inanother the forms have been more permanent, or the change mayhave gone on at an equal rate but in a different manner in both.In either case, the amount of individuality in the productions ofa district will be to some extent a measure of the time that adistrict has been isolated from those that surround it. Judged bythis standard, Celebes must be one of the oldest parts of theArchipelago. It probably dates from a period not only anterior tothat when Borneo, Java, and Sumatra were separated from thecontinent, but from that still more remote epoch when the landthat now constitutes these islands had not risen above the ocean.

Such an antiquity is necessary, to account for the number ofanimal forms it possesses, which show no relation to those ofIndia or Australia, but rather with those of Africa; and we areled to speculate on the possibility of there having once existeda continent in the Indian Ocean which might serve as a bridge toconnect these distant countries. Now it is a curious fact, thatthe existence of such a land has been already thought necessary,to account for the distribution of the curious Quadrumana formingthe family of the Lemurs. These have their metropolis inMadagascar, but are found also in Africa, in Ceylon, in thepeninsula of India, and in the Malay Archipelago as far asCelebes, which is its furthest eastern limit. Dr. Sclater hasproposed for the hypothetical continent connecting these distantpoints, and whose former existence is indicated by the Mascareneislands and the Maldive coral group, the name of Lemuria. Whetheror not we believe in its existence in the exact form hereindicated, the student of geographical distribution must see inthe extraordinary and isolated productions of Celebes, proof ofthe former existence of some continent from whence the ancestorsof these creatures, and of many other intermediate forms, couldhave been derived.

In this short sketch of the most striking peculiarities of theNatural History of Celebes, I have been obliged to enter muchinto details that I fear will have been uninteresting to thegeneral reader, but unless I had done so, my exposition would havelost much of its force and value. It is by these details alonethat I have been able to prove the unusual features that Celebespresents to us. Situated in the very midst of an Archipelago, andclosely hemmed in on every side by islands teeming with variedforms of life, its productions have yet a surprising amount ofindividuality. While it is poor in the actual number of itsspecies, it is yet wonderfully rich in peculiar forms, many ofwhich are singular or beautiful, and are in some cases absolutelyunique upon the globe. We behold here the curious phenomenon ofgroups of insects changing their outline in a similar manner whencompared with those of surrounding islands, suggesting somecommon cause which never seems to have acted elsewhere in exactlythe same way. Celebes, therefore, presents us with a moststriking example of the interest that attaches to the study ofthe geographical distribution of animals. We can see that theirpresent distribution upon the globe is the result of all the morerecent changes the earth's surface has undergone; and, by acareful study of the phenomena, we are sometimes able to deduceapproximately what those past changes must have been in order toproduce the distribution we find to exist. In the comparativelysimple case of the Timor group, we were able to deduce thesechanges with some approach to certainty. In the much morecomplicated case of Celebes, we can only indicate their generalnature, since we now see the result, not of any single or recentchange only, but of a whole series of the later revolutions whichhave resulted in the present distribution of land in the EasternHemisphere.

CHAPTER XIX.

BANDA.

(DECEMBER 1857, MAY 1859, APRIL 1861.)

THE Dutch mail steamer in which I travelled from Macassar toBanda and Amboyna was a roomy and comfortable vessel, although itwould only go six miles an hour in the finest weather. As therewere but three passengers besides myself, we had abundance ofroom, and I was able to enjoy a voyage more than I had ever donebefore. The arrangements are somewhat different from those onboard English or Indian steamers. There are no cabin servants, asevery cabin passenger invariably brings his own, and the ship'sstewards attend only to the saloon and the eating department. Atsix A.M. a cup of tea or coffee is provided for those who likeit. At seven to eight there is a light breakfast of tea, eggs,sardines, etc. At ten, Madeira, Gin and bitters are brought ondeck as a whet for the substantial eleven o'clock breakfast,which differs from a dinner only in the absence of soup. Cups oftea and coffee are brought around at three P.M.; bitters, etc.again at five, a good dinner with beer and claret at half-pastsix, concluded by tea and coffee at eight. Between whiles, beerand sodawater are supplied when called for, so there is no lackof little gastronomical excitements to while away the tedium of asea voyage.

Our first stopping place was Coupang, at the west end of thelarge island of Timor. We then coasted along that island forseveral hundred miles, having always a view of hilly rangescovered with scanty vegetation, rising ridge behind ridge to theheight of six or seven thousand feet. Turning off towards Bandawe passed Pulo-Cambing, Wetter, and Roma, all of which aredesolate and barren volcanic islands, almost as uninviting asAden, and offering a strange contrast to the usual verdure andluxuriance of the Archipelago. In two days more we reached thevolcanic group of Banda, covered with an unusually dense andbrilliant green vegetation, indicating that we had passed beyondthe range of the hot dry winds from the plains of CentralAustralia. Banda is a lovely little spot, its three islandsenclosing a secure harbour from whence no outlet is visible, andwith water so transparent, that living corals and even theminutest objects are plainly seen on the volcanic sand at a depthof seven or eight fathoms. The ever smoking volcano rears itsbare cone on one side, while the two larger islands are clothedwith vegetation to the summit of the hills.

Going on shore, I walked up a pretty path which leads to thehighest point of the island on which the town is situated, wherethere is a telegraph station and a magnificent view. Below liesthe little town, with its neat red-tiled white houses and thethatched cottages of the natives, bounded on one side by the oldPortuguese fort. Beyond, about half a mile distant, lies thelarger island in the shape of a horseshoe, formed of a range ofabrupt hills covered with fine forest and nutmeg gardens; whileclose opposite the town is the volcano, forming a nearly perfectcone, the lower part only covered with a light green bushyvegetation. On its north side the outline is more uneven, andthere is a slight hollow or chasm about one-fifth of the waydown, from which constantly issue two columns of smoke, as wellas a good deal from the rugged surface around and from some spotsnearer the summit. A white efflorescence, probably sulphur, isthickly spread over the upper part of the mountain, marked by thenarrow black vertical lines of water gullies. The smoke unites asit rises, and forms a dense cloud, which in calm, damp weatherspreads out into a wide canopy hiding the top of the mountain. Atnight and early morning, it often rises up straight and leaves thewhole outline clear.

It is only when actually gazing on an active volcano that one canfully realize its awfulness and grandeur. Whence comes thatinexhaustible fire whose dense and sulphurous smoke foreverissues from this bare and desolate peak? Whence the mighty forcesthat produced that peak, and still from time to time exhibitthemselves in the earthquakes that always occur in the vicinityof volcanic vents? The knowledge from childhood of the fact thatvolcanoes and earthquakes exist, has taken away somewhat of thestrange and exceptional character that really belongs to them.The inhabitant of most parts of northern Europe sees in theearth the emblem of stability and repose. His whole life-experience, and that of all his age and generation, teaches himthat the earth is solid and firm, that its massive rocks maycontain water in abundance, but never fire; and these essentialcharacteristics of the earth are manifest in every mountain hiscountry contains. A volcano is a fact opposed to all this mass ofexperience, a fact of so awful a character that, if it were therule instead of the exception, it would make the earthuninhabitable a fact so strange and unaccountable that we may besure it would not be believed on any human testimony, ifpresented to us now for the first time, as a natural phenomenonhappening in a distant country.

The summit of the small island is composed of a highlycrystalline basalt; lower down I found a hard, stratified slateysandstone, while on the beach are huge blocks of lava, andscattered masses of white coralline limestone. The larger islandhas coral rock to a height of three or four hundred feet, whileabove is lava and basalt. It seems probable, therefore, that thislittle group of four islands is the fragment of a larger districtwhich was perhaps once connected with Ceram, but which wasseparated and broken up by the same forces which formed thevolcanic cone. When I visited the larger island on anotheroccasion, I saw a considerable tract covered with large foresttrees--dead, but still standing. This was a record of the lastgreat earthquake only two years ago, when the sea broke in overthis part of the island and so flooded it as to destroy thevegetation on all the lowlands. Almost every year there is anearthquake here, and at intervals of a few years, very severeones which throw down houses and carry ships out of the harbourbodily into the streets.

Notwithstanding the losses incurred by these terrificvisitations, and the small size and isolated position of theselittle islands, they have been and still are of considerablevalue to the Dutch Government, as the chief nutmeg-garden in theworld. Almost the whole surface is planted with nutmegs, grownunder the shade of lofty Kanary trees (Kanarium commune). Thelight volcanic soil, the shade, and the excessive moisture ofthese islands, where it rains more or less every month in theyear, seem exactly to suit the nutmeg-tree, which requires nomanure and scarcely any attention. All the year round flowers andripe fruit are to be found, and none of those diseases occurwhich under a forced and unnatural system of cultivation haveruined the nutmeg planters of Singapore and Penang.

Few cultivated plants are more beautiful than nutmeg-trees. Theyare handsomely shaped and glossy-leaved, growing to the height oftwenty or thirty feet, and bearing small yellowish flowers. Thefruit is the size and colour of a peach, but rather oval. It isof a tough fleshy consistence, but when ripe splits open, andshows the dark-brown nut within, covered with the crimson mace,and is then a most beautiful object. Within the thin, hard shellof the nut is the seed, which is the nutmeg of commerce. The nutsare eaten by the large pigeons of Banda, which digest the mace,but cast up the nut with its seed uninjured.

The nutmeg trade has hitherto been a strict monopoly of the DutchGovernment; but since leaving the country I believe that thismonopoly has been partially or wholly discontinued, a proceedingwhich appears exceedingly injudicious and quite unnecessary.There are cases in which monopolies are perfectly justifiable,and I believe this to be one of them. A small country likeHolland cannot afford to keep distant and expensive colonies ata loss; and having possession of a very small island where avaluable product, not a necessity of life, can be obtained atlittle cost, it is almost the duty of the state to monopoliseit. No injury is done thereby to anyone, but a great benefit isconferred upon the whole population of Holland and itsdependencies, since the produce of the state monopolies savesthem from the weight of a heavy taxation. Had the Government notkept the nutmeg trade of Banda in its own hands, it is probablethat the whole of the islands would long ago have become theproperty of one or more large capitalists. The monopoly wouldhave been almost the same, since no known spot on the globe canproduce nutmegs so cheaply as Banda, but the profits of themonopoly world have gone to a few individuals instead of to thenation.

As an illustration of how a state monopoly may become a state duty,let us suppose that no gold existed in Australia, but that it hadbeen found in immense quantities by one of our ships in some smalland barren island. In this case it would plainly become the duty ofthe state to keep and work the mines for the public benefit, sinceby doing so, the gain would be fairly divided among the whole populationby decrease of taxation; whereas by leaving it open to free tradewhile merely keeping the government of the island; we should certainlyproduce enormous evils during the first struggle for the preciousmetal, and should ultimately subside into the monopoly of some wealthyindividual or great company, whose enormous revenue would notequally benefit the community. The nutmegs of Banda and the tinof Banca are to some extent parallel cases to this supposititiousone, and I believe the Dutch Government will act most unwisely ifthey give up their monopoly.

Even the destruction of the nutmeg and clove trees in manyislands, in order to restrict their cultivation to one or twowhere the monopoly could be easily guarded, usually made thetheme of so much virtuous indignation against the Dutch, may bedefended on similar principles, and is certainly not nearly sobad as many monopolies we ourselves have until very recentlymaintained. Nutmegs and cloves arc not necessaries of life; theyare not even used as spices by the natives of the Moluccas, andno one was materially or permanently injured by the destructionof the trees, since there are a hundred other products that canbe grown in the same islands, equally valuable and far morebeneficial in a social point of view. It is a case exactlyparallel to our prohibition of the growth of tobacco in England,for fiscal purposes, and is, morally and economically, neitherbetter nor worse. The salt monopoly which we so long maintainedin India was in much worse. As long as we keep up a system ofexcise and customs on articles of daily use, which requires anelaborate array of officers and coastguards to carry into effect,and which creates a number of purely legal crimes, it is theheight of absurdity for us to affect indignation at the conductof the Dutch, who carried out a much more justifiable, lesshurtful, and more profitable system in their Eastern possessions.

I challenge objectors to point out any physical or moral evilsthat have actually resulted from the action of the DutchGovernment in this matter; whereas such evils are the admittedresults of every one of our monopolies and restrictions. Theconditions of the two experiments are totally different. The true"political economy" of a higher race, when governing a lower race,has never yet been worked out. The application of our "politicaleconomy" to such cases invariably results in the extinction ordegradation of the lower race; whence, we may consider it probablethat one of the necessary conditions of its truth is theapproximate mental and social unity of the society in which it isapplied. I shall again refer to this subject in my chapter onTernate, one of the most celebrated of the old spice-islands.

The natives of Banda are very much mixed, and it is probable thatat least three-fourths of the population are mongrels, in variousdegrees of Malay, Papuan, Arab, Portuguese, and Dutch. The firsttwo form the bases of the larger portion, and the dark skins,pronounced features, and more or less frizzly hair of the Papuanspreponderates. There seems little doubt that the aborigines ofBanda were Papuans, and a portion of them still exists in the Keislands, where they emigrated when the Portuguese first tookpossession of their native island. It is such people as thesethat are often looked upon as transitional forms between two verydistinct races, like the Malays and Papuans, whereas they areonly examples of intermixture.

The animal productions of Banda, though very few, areinteresting. The islands have perhaps no truly indigenousMammalia but bats. The deer of the Moluccas and the pig haveprobably been introduced. A species of Cuscus or Eastern opossumis also found at Banda, and this may be truly indigenous in thesense of not having been introduced by man. Of birds, during mythree visits of one or two days each, I collected eight kinds,and the Dutch collectors have added a few others. The mostremarkable is a fine and very handsome fruit-pigeon, Carpophagaconcinna, which feeds upon the nutmegs, or rather on the mace,and whose loud booming note is to be continually heard. This birdis found in the Ke and Matabello islands as well as Banda, butnot in Ceram or any of the larger islands, which are inhabited byallied but very distinct species. A beautiful small fruit-dove,Ptilonopus diadematus, is also peculiar to Banda.

CHAPTER XX.

AMBOYNA

(DECEMBER 1857, OCTOBER 1859, FEBRUARY 1860.)

TWENTY hours from Banda brought us to Amboyna, the capital of theMoluccas, and one of the oldest European settlements in the East.The island consists of two peninsulas, so nearly divided byinlets of the sea, as to leave only a sandy isthmus about a milewide near their eastern extremity. The western inlet is severalmiles long and forms a fine harbour on the southern side ofwhich is situated the town of Amboyna. I had a letter ofintroduction to Dr. Mohnike, the chief medical officer of theMoluccas, a German and a naturalist. I found that he could writeand read English, but could not speak it, being like myself a badlinguist; so we had to use French as a medium of communication.He kindly offered me a room during my stay in Amboyna, andintroduced me to his junior, Dr. Doleschall, a Hungarian and alsoan entomolog´st. He was an intelligent and most amiable young manbut I was shocked to find that he was dying of consumption,though still able to perform the duties of his office. In theevening my host took me to the residence of the Governor, Mr.Goldmann, who received me in a most kind and cordial manner, andoffered me every assistance. The town of Amboyna consists of afew business streets, and a number of roads set out at rightangles to each other, bordered by hedges of flowering shrubs, andenclosing country houses and huts embossed in palms and fruittrees. Hills and mountains form the background in almost everydirection, and there are few places more enjoyable for a morningor evening stroll than these sandy roads and shady lanes in thesuburbs of the ancient city of Amboyna.

There are no active volcanoes in the island, nor is it nowsubject to frequent earthquakes, although very severe ones haveoccurred and may be expected again. Mr. William Funnell, in hisvoyage with Dampier to the South Seas in 1705, says: "Whilst wewere here, (at Amboyna) we had a great earthquake, whichcontinued two days, in which time it did a great deal ofmischief, for the ground burst open in many places, and swallowedup several houses and whole families. Several of the people weredug out again, but most of them dead, and many had their legs orarms broken by the fall of the houses. The castle walls were rentasunder in several places, and we thought that it and all thehouses would have fallen down. The ground where we were swelledlike a wave in the sea, but near us we had no hurt done." Thereare also numerous records of eruptions of a volcano on the westside of the island. In 1674 an eruption destroyed a village. In1694 there was another eruption. In I797 much vapour and heat wasemitted. Other eruptions occurred in 1816 and 1820, and in 1824 anew crater is said to have been formed. Yet so capricious is theaction of these subterranean fires, that since the last-namedepoch all eruptive symptoms have so completely ceased, that I wasassured by many of the most intelligent European inhabitants ofAmboyna, that they had never heard of any such thing as a volcanoon the island.

During the few days that elapsed before I could make arrangements to visit the interior, I enjoyed myself much in the society ofthe two doctors, both amiable and well-educated men, and bothenthusiastic entomologists, though obliged to increase theircollections almost entirely by means of native collectors.Dr. Doleschall studied chiefly the flies and spiders, but alsocollected butterflies and moths, and in his boxes I saw grandspecimens of the emerald Ornithoptera priamus and the azurePapilio Ulysses, with many more of the superb butterflies of thisrich island. Dr. Mohnike confined himself chiefly to the beetles,and had formed a magnificent collection during many yearsresidence in Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Japan, and Amboyna. TheJapanese collection was especially interesting, containing boththe fine Carabi of northern countries, and the gorgeousBuprestidae and Longicorns of the tropics. The doctor made thevoyage to Jeddo by land from Nagasaki, and is well acquaintedwith the character, manners, and customs of the people of Japan,and with the geology, physical features, and natural history ofthe country. He showed me collections of cheap woodcuts printedin colours, which are sold at less than a farthing each, andcomprise an endless variety of sketches of Japanese scenery andmanners. Though rude, they are very characteristic, and oftenexhibit touches of great humour. He also possesses a largecollection of coloured sketches of the plants of Japan, made by aJapanese lady, which are the most masterly things I have everseen. Every stem, twig, and leaf is produced by single touches ofthe brush, the character and perspective of very complicatedplants being admirably given, and the articulations of stem andleaves shown in a most scientific manner.

Having made arrangements to stay for three weeks at a small huton a newly cleared plantation in the interior of the northernhalf of the island, I with some difficulty obtained a boat andmen to take me across the water--for the Amboynese are dreadfullylazy. Passing up the harbour, in appearance like a fine river,the clearness of the water afforded me one of the mostastonishing and beautiful sights I have ever beheld. The bottomwas absolutely hidden by a continuous series of corals, sponges,actinic, and other marine productions of magnificent dimensions,varied forms, and brilliant colours. The depth varied from abouttwenty to fifty feet, and the bottom was very uneven, rocks andchasms and little hills and valleys, offering a variety ofstations for the growth of these animal forests. In and out amongthem, moved numbers of blue and red and yellow fishes, spottedand banded and striped in the most striking manner, while greatorange or rosy transparent medusa floated along near the surface.It was a sight to gaze at for hours, and no description can dojustice to its surpassing beauty and interest. For once, thereality exceeded the most glowing accounts I had ever read of thewonders of a coral sea. There is perhaps no spot in the worldricher in marine productions, corals, shells and fishes, than theharbour of Amboyna.

From the north side of the harbour, a good broad path passesthrough swamp clearing and forest, over hill and valley, to thefarther side of the island; the coralline rock constantlyprotruding through the deep red earth which fills all thehollows, and is more or less spread over the plains and hill-sides. The forest vegetation is here of the most luxuriantcharacter; ferns and palms abound, and the climbing rattans weremore abundant than I had ever seen them, forming tangled festoonsover almost every large forest tree. The cottage I was to occupywas situated in a large clearing of about a hundred acres, partof which was already planted with young cacao-trees and plantainsto shade them, while the rest was covered with dead and half-burned forest trees; and on one side there was a tract where thetrees had been recently felled and were not yet burned. The pathby which I had arrived continued along one side of this clearing,and then again entering the virgin forest passed over hill anddale to the northern aide of the island.

My abode was merely a little thatched hut, consisting of an openverandah in front and a small dark sleeping room behind. It wasraised about five feet from the ground, and was reached by rudesteps to the centre of the verandah. The walls and floor were ofbamboo, and it contained a table, two bamboo chairs, and a couch.Here I soon made myself comfortable, and set to work hunting forinsects among the more recently felled timber, which swarmed withfine Curculionidae, Longicorns, and Buprestidae, most of themremarkable for their elegant forms or brilliant colours, andalmost all entirely new to me. Only the entomologist canappreciate the delight with which I hunted about for hours in thehot sunshine, among the branches and twigs and bark of the fallentrees, every few minutes securing insects which were at that timealmost all rare or new to European collections.

In the shady forest paths were many fine butterflies, mostconspicuous among which was the shining blue Papilio Ulysses, oneof the princes of the tribe, though at that time so rare inEurope, I found it absolutely common in Amboyna, though not easyto obtain in fine condition, a large number of the specimensbeing found when captured to have the wings torn or broken. Itflies with a rather weak undulating motion, and from its largesize, its tailed wings and brilliant colour, is one of the mosttropical-looking insects the naturalist can gaze upon.

There is a remarkable contrast between the beetles of Amboyna andthose of Macassar, the latter generally small and obscure, theformer large and brilliant. On the whole, the insects here mostresemble those of the Aru islands, but they are almost always ofdistinct species, and when they are most nearly allied to eachother, the species of Amboyna are of larger size and morebrilliant colours, so that one might be led to conclude that inpassing east and west into a less favourable soil and climate,they had degenerated into less striking forms.

Of an evening I generally sat reading in the verandah, ready tocapture any insects that were attracted to the light. One nightabout nine o'clock, I heard a curious noise and rustlingoverhead, as if some heavy animal were crawling slowly over thethatch. The noise soon ceased, and I thought no more about it andwent to bed soon afterwards. The next afternoon just beforedinner, being rather tired with my day's work, I was lying on thecouch with a book in my hand, when gazing upwards I saw a largemass of something overhead which I had not noticed before.Looking more carefully I could see yellow and black marks, andthought it must be a tortoise-shell put up there out of the waybetween the ridge-pole and the roof Continuing to gaze, itsuddenly resolved itself into a large snake, compactly coiled upin a kind of knot; and I could detect his head and his brighteyes in the very centre of the folds. The noise of the eveningbefore was now explained. A python had climbed up one of theposts of the house, and had made his way under the thatch withina yard of my head, and taken up a comfortable position in theroof--and I had slept soundly all night directly under him.

I called to my two boys who were skinning birds below and said,"Here's a big snake in the roof;" but as soon as I had shown itto them they rushed out of the house and begged me to come outdirectly. Finding they were too much afraid to do anything, wecalled some of the labourers in the plantation, and soon had halfa dozen men in consultation outside. One of these, a native ofBouru, where there are a great many snakes, said he would get himout, and proceeded to work in a businesslike manner. He made astrong noose of rattan, and with a long pole in the other handpoked at the snake, who then began slowly to uncoil itself. Hethen managed to slip the noose over its head, and getting it wellon to the body, dragged the animal down. There was a greatscuffle as the snake coiled round the chairs and posts to resisthis enemy, but at length the man caught hold of its tail, rushedout of the house (running so quick that the creature seemed quiteconfounded), and tried to strike its head against a tree. Hemissed however, and let go, and the snake got under a dead trunkclose by. It was again poked out, and again the Bourn man caughthold of its tail, and running away quickly dashed its head with aswing against a tree, and it was then easily killed with ahatchet. It was about twelve feet long and very thick, capable ofdoing much mischief and of swallowing a dog or a child.

I did not get a great many birds here. The most remarkable werethe fine crimson lory, Eos rubra--a brush-tongued parroquet of avivid crimson colour, which was very abundant. Large flocks ofthem came about the plantation, and formed a magnificent objectwhen they settled down upon some flowering tree, on the nectar ofwhich lories feed. I also obtained one or two specimens of thefine racquet-tailed kingfisher of Amboyna, Tanysiptera nais, oneof the most singular and beautiful of that beautiful family.These birds differ from all other kingfishers (which have usuallyshort tails) by having the two middle tail-feathers immenselylengthened and very narrowly webbed, but terminated by a spoon-shaped enlargement, as in the motmots and some of the humming-birds. They belong to that division of the family termed king-hunters, living chiefly on insects and small land-molluscs, whichthey dart down upon and pick up from the ground, just as akingfisher picks a fish out of the water. They are confined to avery limited area, comprising the Moluccas, New Guinea andNorthern Australia. About ten species of these birds are nowknown, all much resembling each other, but yet sufficientlydistinguishable in every locality. The Amboynese species, ofwhich a very accurate representation is here given, is one of thelargest and handsomest. It is full seventeen inches long to thetips of the tail-feathers; the bill is coral red, the under-surface pure white, the back and wings deep purple, while theshoulders, head and nape, and some spots on the upper part of theback and wings, are pure azure blue; the tail is white, with thefeathers narrowly blue-edged, but the narrow part of the longfeathers is rich blue. This was an entirely new species, and hasbeen well named after an ocean goddess, by Mr. R. G. Gray.

On Christmas eve I returned to Amboyna, where I stayed about tendays with my kind friend Dr. Mohnike. Considering that I had beenaway only twenty days, and that on five or six of those I wasprevented doing any thing by wet weather and slight attacks offever, I had made a very nice collection of insects, comprising amuch larger proportion of large and brilliant species than I hadever before obtained in so short a time. Of the beautifulmetallic Buprestidae I had about a dozen handsome species, yet inthe doctor's collection I observed four or five more very fineones, so that Amboyna is unusually rich in this elegant group.

During my stay here I had a good opportunity of seeing howEuropeans live in the Dutch colonies, and where they have adoptedcustoms far more in accordance with the climate than we have donein our tropical possessions. Almost all business is transacted inthe morning between the hours of seven and twelve, the afternoonbeing given up to repose, and the evening to visiting. When inthe house during the heat of the day, and even at dinner, theyuse a loose cotton dress, only putting on a suit of thinEuropean-made clothes for out of doors and evening wear. Theyoften walk about after sunset bareheaded, reserving the black hatfor visits of ceremony. Life is thus made far more agreeable, andthe fatigue and discomfort incident to the climate greatlydiminished. Christmas day is not made much of, but on New Year'sday official and complimentary visits are paid, and about sunsetwe went to the Governor's, where a large party of ladies andgentlemen were assembled. Tea and coffee were handed around, as isalmost universal during a visit, as well as cigars, for on nooccasion is smoking prohibited in Dutch colonies, cigars beinggenerally lighted before the cloth is withdrawn at dinner, eventhough half the company are ladies. I here saw for the first timethe rare black lory from New Guinea, Chalcopsitta atra. Theplumage is rather glossy, and slightly tinged with yellowish andpurple, the bill and feet being entirely black.

The native Amboynese who reside in the city are a strange half-civilized, half-savage lazy people, who seem to be a mixture of atleast three races--Portuguese, Malay, and Papuan or Ceramese,with an occasional cross of Chinese or Dutch. The Portugueseelement decidedly predominates in the old Christian population,as indicated by features, habits, and the retention of manyPortuguese words in the Malay, which is now their language. Theyhave a peculiar style of dress which they wear among themselves,a close-fitting white shirt with black trousers, and a blackfrock or upper shirt. The women seem to prefer a dress entirelyblack. On festivals and state occasions they adopt the swallow-tail coat, chimneypot hat, and their accompaniments, displayingall the absurdity of our European fashionable dress. Though nowProtestants, they preserve at feasts and weddings the processionsand music of the Catholic Church, curiously mixed up with thegongs and dances of the aborigines of the country. Their languagehas still much more Portuguese than Dutch in it, although theyhave been in close communication with the latter nation for morethan two hundred and fifty years; even many names of birds, treesand other natural objects, as well as many domestic terms, beingplainly Portuguese. [The following are a few of the Portuguesewords in common use by the Malay-speaking natives of Amboyna andthe other Molucca islands: Pombo (pigeon); milo (maize); testa(forehead); horas (hours); alfinete (pin); cadeira (chair); lenco(handkerchief); fresco (cool); trigo (flour); sono (sloop);familia (family); histori (talk); vosse (you); mesmo (even);cunhado (brother-in-law); senhor (sir); nyora for signora(madam). None of them, however, have the least notion that thesewords belong to a European language.] This people seems to havehad a marvellous power of colonization, and a capacity forimpressing their national characteristics on every country theyconquered, or in which they effected a merely temporarysettlement. In a suburb of Amboyna there is a village ofaboriginal Malays who are Mahometans, and who speak a peculiarlanguage allied to those of Ceram, as well as Malay. They arechiefly fishermen, and are said to be both more industrious andmore honest than the native Christians.

I went on Sunday, by invitation, to see a collection of shellsand fish made by a gentleman of Amboyna. The fishes are perhapsunrivalled for variety and beauty by those of any one spot on theearth. The celebrated Dutch ichthyologist, Dr. Blecker, has givena catalogue of seven hundred and eighty species found at Amboyna,a number almost equal to those of all the seas and rivers ofEurope. A large proportion of them are of the most brilliantcolours, being marked with bands and spots of the purest yellows,reds, and blues; while their forms present all that strange andendless variety so characteristic of the inhabitants of theocean. The shells are also very numerous, and comprise a numberof the finest species in the world. The Mactras and Ostreas inparticular struck me by the variety and beauty of their colours.Shells have long been an object of traffic in Amboyna; many ofthe natives get their living by collecting and cleaning them, andalmost every visitor takes away a small collection. The result isthat many of the commoner-sorts have lost all value in the eyesof the amateur, numbers of the handsome but very common cones,cowries, and olives sold in the streets of London for a pennyeach, being natives of the distant isle of Amboyna, where theycannot be bought so cheaply. The fishes in the collection wereall well preserved in clear spirit in hundreds of glass jars, andthe shells were arranged in large shallow pith boxes lined withpaper, every specimen being fastened down with thread. I roughlyestimated that there were nearly a thousand different kinds ofshells, and perhaps ten thousand specimens, while the collectionof Amboyna fishes was nearly perfect.

On the 4th of January I left Amboyna for Ternate; but two yearslater, in October 1859, I again visited it after my residence inMenado, and stayed a month in the town in a small house which Ihired for the sake of assorting and packing up a large and variedcollection which I had brought with me from North Celebes,Ternate, and Gilolo. I was obliged to do this because the mailsteamer would have come the following month by way of Amboyna toTernate, and I should have been delayed two months before I couldhave reached the former place. I then paid my first visit toCeram, and on returning to prepare for my second more completeexploration of that island, I stayed (much against my will) twomonths at Paso, on the isthmus which connects the two portions ofthe island of Amboyna. This village is situated on the easternside of the isthmus, on sandy ground, with a very pleasant viewover the sea to the island of Haruka. On the Amboyna side of theisthmus there is a small river which has been continued by ashallow canal to within thirty yards of high-water mark on theother side. Across this small space, which is sandy and butslightly elevated, all small boats and praus can be easilydragged, and all the smaller traffic from Ceram and the islandsof Sapar˙a and Har˙ka, passes through Paso. The canal is notcontinued quite through, merely because every spring-tide wouldthrow up just such a sand-bank as now exists.

I had been informed that the fine butterfly Ornithoptera priamuswas plentiful here, as well as the racquet-tailed kingfisher andthe ring-necked lory. I found, however, that I had missed thetime for the former: and birds of all kinds were very scarce,although I obtained a few good ones, including one or two of theabove-mentioned rarities. I was much pleased to get here the finelong-armed chafer, Euchirus longimanus. This extraordinary insectis rarely or never captured except when it comes to drink the sapof the sugar palms, where it is found by the natives when they goearly in the morning to take away the bamboos which have beenfilled during the night. For some time one or two were brought meevery day, generally alive. They are sluggish insects, and pullthemselves lazily along by means of their immense forelegs. Afigure of this and other Moluccan beetles is given in the 27thchapter of this work.

I was kept at Paso by an inflammatory eruption, brought on by theconstant attacks of small acari-like harvest-bugs, for which theforests of Ceram are famous, and also by the want of nourishingfood while in that island. At one time I was covered with severeboils. I had them on my eye, cheek, armpits, elbows, back,thighs, knees, and ankles, so that I was unable to sit or walk,and had great difficulty in finding a side to lie upon withoutpain. These continued for some weeks, fresh ones coming out asfast as others got well; but good living and sea baths ultimatelycured them.

About the end of January Charles Allen, who had been my assistantin Malacca and Borneo, again joined me on agreement for threeyears; and as soon as I got tolerably well, we had plenty to dolaying in stores and making arrangements for our ensuingcampaign. Our greatest difficulty was in obtaining men, but atlast we succeeded in getting two each. An Amboyna Christian namedTheodorus Watakena, who had been some time with me and had learnedto skin birds very well, agreed to go with Allen, as well as avery quiet and industrious lad named Cornelius, whom I hadbrought from Menado. I had two Amboynese, named Petrus Rehatta,and Mesach Matahena; the latter of whom had two brothers, namedrespectively Shadrach and Abednego, in accordance with the usualcustom among these people of giving only Scripture names to theirchildren.

During the time I resided in this place, I enjoyed a luxury I havenever met with either before or since--the true bread-fruit. Agood deal of it has been planted about here and in thesurrounding villages, and almost everyday we had opportunitiesof purchasing some, as all the boats going to Amboyna wereunloaded just opposite my door to be dragged across the isthmus.Though it grows in several other parts of the Archipelago, it isnowhere abundant, and the season for it only lasts a short time.It is baked entire in the hot embers, and the inside scooped outwith a spoon. I compared it to Yorkshire pudding; Charles Allensaid it was like mashed potatoes and milk. It is generally aboutthe size of a melon, a little fibrous towards the centre, buteverywhere else quite smooth and puddingy, something inconsistence between yeast-dumplings and batter-pudding. Wesometimes made curry or stew of it, or fried it in slices; but itis no way so good as simply baked. It may be eaten sweet orsavory. With meat and gravy it is a vegetable superior to any Iknow, either in temperate or tropical countries. With sugar,milk, butter, or treacle, it is a delicious pudding, having avery slight and delicate but characteristic flavour, which, likethat of good bread and potatoes, one never gets tired of. Thereason why it is comparatively scarce is that it is a fruit ofwhich the seeds are entirely aborted by cultivation, and the treecan therefore only be propagated by cuttings. The seed-bearingvariety is common all over the tropics, and though the seeds arevery good eating, resembling chestnuts, the fruit is quiteworthless as a vegetable. Now that steam and Ward's cases renderthe transport of young plants so easy, it is much to be wishedthat the best varieties of this unequalled vegetable should beintroduced into our West India islands, and largely propagatedthere. As the fruit will keep some time after being gathered, wemight then be able to obtain this tropical luxury in CoventGarden Market.

Although the few months I at various times spent in Amboyna werenot altogether very profitable to me in the way of collections,it will always remain as a bright spot in the review of myEastern travels, since it was there that I first made theacquaintance of those glorious birds and insects which renderthe Moluccas classic ground in the eyes of the naturalist, andcharacterise its fauna as one of the most remarkable andbeautiful upon the globe. On the 20th of February I finallyquitted Amboyna for Ceram and Waigiou, leaving Charles Allen togo by a Government boat to Wahai on the north coast of Ceram, andthence to the unexplored island of Mysol.